


Frozen lake

by ToxicPineapple



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Conversations, Dates, Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Healthy Relationships, Hurt/Comfort, Kaede Has Two Dads, Kashiko is Kaede's sister and she's only there for three seconds, Light Angst, Light Hurt/Comfort, Light Introspection, headcanon central
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:40:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21846079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToxicPineapple/pseuds/ToxicPineapple
Summary: It doesn’t even bother her that he’s gone so much. If Rantaro truly was the playboy she thought he was when she first saw him, she might be a little bit worried, but he’s not. It’s startling how devoted he’s been to their relationship, all things considered. The only problem is that she just, she doesn’t feel like he trusts her.Which totally sucks. Kaede generally thinks of herself as a pretty trustworthy person.---Rantaro shows up outside of Kaede's window during winter break and takes her on a date.(Also, they talk about his sisters, but this is a marginally less vital piece of information.)
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Amami Rantaro
Comments: 18
Kudos: 52





	Frozen lake

The holidays are Kaede’s favourite time of year. Christmas music never fails to get her in a good mood, and she likes it when the streets are full of people going about their business, buying gifts and decorations and preparing for time with their loved ones. She likes the nip in the air, too; the excuse to bundle up and the snowball fights and staying outside until her nose turns bright red building a snowman with her sister. It just makes her happy. It makes her feel like a kid, and not in a bad way at all. In the best of ways, actually. The holiday season reminds her of sitting in the living room and laughing with her family over mugs of non-alcoholic eggnog while Christmas music drifts through the room from the radio.

It’s why she’s so excited at the season’s first snow. It doesn’t snow often- usually when it’s cold it just rains. But Hope’s Peak is out for the holidays, and last night the air was chilly and wet and the moon was hidden behind a wall of grey clouds and she fell asleep hoping for everything to be covered in a sheet of white when she woke up.

At eight, when she crawls out of bed to play the piano, she’s almost forgotten, but then she catches a quick glimpse out the window and her heart leaps. Her instrument is briefly forgotten as she rushes to the window, throwing aside the curtains and undoing the latch. It slides open with a satisfying click and she sticks out her head, beaming around at the thick white powder that covers everything like a blanket. Snowflakes are still falling from the sky, large and cold and abundant, and a laugh escapes her despite the chill. She’s sure her nose is already turning red, and the cold is bone chilling, to tell the truth, but the air smells and tastes so clean, and everything feels quieter right now. Early in the morning when everything is covered in snow.

“Kaede!” A shout from outside startles her out of her thoughts and Kaede looks around wildly before her eyes land on the person in question. “You opened the window just in time, I was about to give it the snowball treatment.” Rantaro is standing in her driveway, grinning up at her and dressed in snow pants and a puffy green parka. He’s got a scarf wrapped around his neck, and a hat on his head, which makes sense, because he’s always hated cold weather. It doesn’t look it now, though, considering that even from this distance, Kaede can see his eyes sparkling. (He’s also got a couple snowballs clutched in his mittens, but she decides that she’ll address them later.)

“Rantaro!” She calls back in return, and feels her smile return when the shock wears off. The window isn’t wide enough for her to fall out, but she still braces herself on the window sill before leaning out further to get a better look at him. Rantaro drops one of his snowballs. “What are you doing here?” She asks, raising her voice a little bit so that he can hear her. He laughs, full body and warm, and Kaede shivers at the deep, rich sound of it.

“What, can’t a guy visit his girlfriend once in a while?” He asks, and by the way that his eyebrows raise, she knows that he’s just messing with her. Still, he doesn’t say anything else, and so Kaede heaves a sigh, poking her tongue out at him before she moves to elaborate.

“You know what I mean!” She pouts, wishing that she could swat his arm, especially when he starts laughing again. “Shouldn’t you be in Berlin right now?” Not that Kaede actually knows why he travels so much, but she figures that he’s looking for something. At any rate, when she texted him last night, he mentioned just arriving in Berlin, so that’s what she thought would still be happening. Rantaro doesn’t even come back for Christmas, apparently. The fact that he’s here right now is making her heart flutter.

“I was,” Rantaro agrees with a nod. “But I changed my mind, I wanted to see you.” The casual way that he says it makes Kaede wish that she had something to throw at him, because her face starts to heat up like crazy. The thought that he flew all the way in from Germany on a whim to come back and see her is doing wonders for her composure, and by that she means it’s absolutely wrecking it. It’s already hard to keep from turning bright red whenever she and Rantaro make eye contact, so this is imaginably unfair. “Consider it an early Christmas present! I have a real one, too, but I’ll give you that on the day of.”

The remark takes a moment to land. “You’ll be here on Christmas?” Kaede asks, baffled. Rantaro appraises her for a second before smiling, warm and easy, and gesturing for her to come down.

“If you don’t have any plans for today, I’d like to take you somewhere.” He drops the other snowball, finally, knocking snow from his mittens. “So we can talk about that when you’re down here.” After a moment, Rantaro adds, “Or, you could stay up there, and I’ll just shout up my explanation to you, like the male romantic lead in an American 90s movie. Whichever appeals to you.”

Kaede giggles. He’s definitely joking about that, but it’s still a funny thing to say. (Not that she watches a lot of American 90s movies! But she’s cultured enough to understand the reference.) She gives a quick shake of her head. “I’ll come down.” She calls down to him, and waits for Rantaro to nod before closing the window again and stepping away to change out of her pajamas. Ordinarily she’d just throw something on, because she doesn’t want to leave him waiting, but since it’s Rantaro- AKA her boyfriend- she supposes she should probably pay a little attention to what she wears.

They haven’t been dating for all that long. (Kaede ponders this as she pulls on a pair of magenta leggings and a paler pink skirt. She’s got more of a tolerance for cold than Rantaro does- though she’ll still be wearing a winter coat and gloves and stuff.) That’s probably why she’s still putting so much thought into the way that she dresses around him. Not that he cares, of course; Rantaro probably doesn’t even notice, beyond a very objective,  _ oh, nice outfit,  _ kind of remark, because that’s the way that Rantaro is. He knows a lot about fashion, for sure, but sometimes he’s a bit oblivious to nuance. It’s one of the things that Kaede likes about him, though it can be frustrating at times, because she’s never sure if he’s really blind to what she’s trying to do, or if he’s just teasing her.

It’s nice dating him, though. Things are always comfortable between them. He’s sweet, and patient, and there are a lot of little things about him that Kaede is just extremely fond of. Aside from maybe Shuichi, he’s probably the most decent guy she’s ever met. (Shuichi is, of course, an outlier and should not be counted. Though, Shuichi’s also like her brother, so, ick.) And it admittedly still feels  _ amazing  _ when he walks into class and his eyes go straight to her. Rantaro has this way of making her feel special that’s extremely difficult to replicate with anyone in her life. Even with her family, she doesn’t feel quite the same around them as she does around Rantaro.

Which, Kaede thinks, as she pulls a white sweater over her head, is definitely a good thing. She took a shower last night, so all she really does is brush her hair before tying it into a ponytail. She’ll pack earmuffs but she’s not much of a hat person. Her hair is really easily shaped and hat head is unavoidable. After putting on socks and stepping into the only pair of winter boots she owns, Kaede grabs her phone and hurries out of her room. From the closet by the stairs, she grabs her backpack, as well as earmuffs and a puffy, plum coloured winter coat, then heads into the foyer.

“Papa, Dad, my boyfriend is outside and he’s taking me somewhere,” Kaede calls over her shoulder as she grabs her keys from the bowl by the door. A snort comes from the kitchen, and she doesn’t think too hard about who says it, because she knows that it’s just going to be one of her family members teasing her.

“Somewhere, huh?” Kashiko, then. (Kashiko is her younger sister. Well, her twin, actually, but she’s the  _ younger  _ twin.) “Sounds fishy. I don’t trust like that.”

“Thankfully,” Kaede pauses to put on lip balm, because she’s against getting chapped lips at all times of day. “I wasn’t asking for your opinion.” Kashiko sticks out her tongue, and Kaede does the same with a laugh before heading out the door.

It takes a moment for her to spot Rantaro, who’s kneeling in her driveway and drawing a large smiley face in the snow with a stick. She smiles, leaning against her papa’s car, and waits for him to notice her. It could take anywhere from seconds to minutes, given how spacey Rantaro sometimes is. Thankfully, he looks up after a moment, and his eyes widen slightly when they land on her. He scrambles to his feet.

“You didn’t draw the other eye,” Kaede remarks with a pout, and Rantaro snorts. She puts out her arms and he moves forward, tucking his around her waist. She’s used to the feeling of his arms around her but it’s still a bit jarring just how much warmth suddenly floods her body when he’s close to her. Her heart thuds a little bit, and then relaxes, and she tilts up her face when he rests his forehead against hers. They look at each other for a moment, and then smile, and then she moves her lips to touch his.

Upon pulling back slightly, Rantaro whispers, “Hey,” and his voice is lower than it was when he was calling out to her at her window. Kaede giggles, pressing a light kiss to his nose, before sliding out of the embrace and linking their hands.

“That’s nice, but my sister is gonna yell at me for PDA if I make out with you in the driveway,” she grins, and Rantaro laughs again, shaking his head. “It’s very tempting, though, I promise.” She adds, bumping his shoulder with hers. “So where are we going?”

“I wanted to surprise you,” Rantaro replies, squeezing her hand. There are two layers of fabric keeping them from touching (as is typically the case when wearing a glove and holding hands with someone who is also wearing a glove) but Kaede can still feel the warmth from his hand seeping into hers. It makes her want to shiver, but she suppresses the urge, because she’s actually pretty warm right now considering all the layers she piled on inside. “So is it alright if you just follow me for a bit?”

“Are we walking?” Rantaro nods, and Kaede makes a show of throwing on a skeptical expression. She doesn’t  _ really  _ distrust him; he’s called the Ultimate Adventurer for a reason, so surely he must have somewhat impressive navigation skills. She doesn’t think that he’ll get her lost, and if he somehow does, they both have GPS on their phones, so it won’t be a big deal. (Besides that, knowing Rantaro they’ll be going to some little pocket of nature he found in Tokyo, and there just aren’t enough of those to get lost in them.) Still, though, she wants to tease him a little bit, or else none of this is any fun. “Aren’t you notorious for getting lost?”

“Haha, you might have a point.” Despite her playful objection, Kaede doesn’t say anything when Rantaro starts to walk, tugging their linked hands along with him. His strides are a tad bit longer than hers are, but he walks more slowly, and it’s a comfortable speed for her in general. The sidewalks haven’t been tread upon yet by too many people, so the crunchy rise and fall of their boots in the white powder leaves neat footsteps in their wake. Kaede sneaks a glance back at them and finds herself smiling. It’s so childish to be happy over leaving footprints, but she can’t help it. And the snow is falling so rapidly that they’re already starting to be covered up, which is really nice to watch. “I hear I always find my way back eventually, though,” Rantaro continues, and Kaede brings her mind back to the topic at hand.

“Hm!” She swings her arms between them. “You don’t sound so sure of yourself, I notice?” Rantaro raises his eyebrows at her when she says it, but then cracks a smile, and it sends off butterflies in her diaphragm. Kaede isn’t entirely uncertain that that smile couldn’t end wars. “Are we going to get lost, Amami?” She teases, and Rantaro purses his lips, presumably at the use of his surname.

“Well, now I kind of want to get us lost.” He pouts. “Just to spite you.” And Kaede laughs, full on, more than lovesick giggles this time. Though her eyes close for a moment, she still notices the way that Rantaro’s light up upon seeing her laugh, and her chest gives another should-be-painful squeeze. Sometimes her friends come up to her with concerns about their significant others not returning their feelings. It always stems from a place of self doubt, and of course Kaede has plenty of that to go around, but when Rantaro looks at her like he is now… it’s hard to believe that anything in this relationship could possibly be one sided.

They lapse into a comfortable silence after that, and Kaede’s ears fill with the satisfying crunch of the snow beneath her, as well as the sound of her own breathing, which feels far more loud than she’d honestly like it to be. The only way that she can track Rantaro’s breathing is through watching the rise and fall of his chest, and admittedly, it’s not dramatic enough that it leaves a lasting impression on her. Maybe this kind of self consciousness is out of place in a relationship that’s existed for over three months, but Kaede doubts that as far as Rantaro is concerned, she’s never going to stop feeling anxious around him  _ entirely. _

And it’s not because he’s an anxiety inducing person, or anything like that, because he’s not. Rantaro is insanely comforting. A stabilising presence in her life, even, amidst all the chaos of her friends at Hope’s Peak. No matter how much drama is going down at school, she can always count on Rantaro to be there to make some sense of it for her. It’s difficult to reach him over text at times because he goes places that don’t have good cell service semi-frequently, but he’ll always answer eventually. He’s reliable like that, in a way that is almost unfathomable to Kaede.

But it always feels like there’s so much that he’s hiding from her (from everyone)- that’s the problem. She doesn’t mind that he has secrets, but aside from vague hinting now and again, Rantaro hasn’t even told her why he’s off on trips so often. He kind of cycles through the same dozen or so places, with a few outliers tossed in, Kaede’s noticed. She thinks he’s probably looking for something, because in the quieter moments, she’s sometimes caught him staring off at a far wall with a wistful expression on his face, but she doesn’t know for sure. And maybe it’s that, that bit of instability in an otherwise totally secure relationship, that messes her up so much.

It doesn’t even bother her that he’s gone so much. If Rantaro truly was the playboy she thought he was when she first saw him, she might be a little bit worried, but he’s not. It’s startling how devoted he’s been to their relationship, all things considered. The only problem is that she just, she doesn’t feel like he trusts her.

Which totally sucks. Kaede generally thinks of herself as a pretty trustworthy person. She doesn’t spread around things that were told to her in confidence, and all she can really do is play the piano, so it’s not like she could ever use someone’s secrets against them- plus, Rantaro knows her, and presumably well enough to know that she’s not that kind of a person. But he still kinda just keeps his mouth shut on those kinds of things, which is almost as infuriating as it is a bit hurtful.

They’ve talked about it before, though. A number of times. Kaede has tried to make it abundantly clear that she’s going to wait for him to be ready to talk to her, and that still stands, but damn, it’s like those things go in one ear and out the other with him. Rantaro can be a really frustrating person to deal with sometimes because he’s so good at deflecting. He flashes that charming smile, gives a quiet chuckle, and rubs the back of his neck, and suddenly they’re talking about Kaede’s favourite brand of shoes.

“You alright?” Rantaro’s voice breaks into her thoughts, and Kaede blinks, wondering how long she’s been spaced out. They’re not extraordinarily far from her house? They must have been walking for quite a while, but she recognises the street that they’re on, vaguely. They’re standing at a crosswalk though, about to walk over to a park she’s never seen before, and suddenly it pops into her mind how wealthy this neighbourhood is. “You seem pensive.”   
  


“Really?” Kaede asks, and knows that it sounds like a lame response because even she can hear how weak her voice comes out. “It’s nothing, I was just thinking.” She dismisses, and Rantaro gives her a skeptical look.

“About what? Nothing bad, I hope.” His other hand, the one that isn’t holding hers, comes up to brush against the side of her face, a gloved thumb rubbing the space between her eyebrows so that her expression will relax. It makes Kaede laugh, her cheeks warming a bit at how silly but earnest the gesture is, and duck away. “See, that’s the expression I wanted to see,” Rantaro pokes out his tongue. “Not that you shouldn’t be serious when you’re feeling serious, though,” he adds.

“Well,” Kaede hesitates. “It’s kind of an intense thing to talk about on a date.” The light turns green, and they cross the street. Rantaro releases her hand to place his on the small of her back, guiding her under some particularly low hanging branches of a tree as they enter the park. “I don’t know if I want to waste time that you could be spending in Berlin with something so, uh, serious.” She might be making a bigger deal of it than it has to be. It’s just that her attempts at getting Rantaro to open up in the past have always been met with resistance. She doesn’t want to have to deal with that today, or make Rantaro feel guilty for deflecting.

Rantaro hums, but for a moment doesn’t say anything. The park is small; there isn’t even a playset, just a grassy field (which is covered in white snow) that overlooks a small pond. The pond is completely frozen over, and a pale blue right now. Kaede surmises that Rantaro is taking her over to stand by it, and finds herself correct when they stop at the edge. “This is where I learned to swim,” he says finally, and Kaede thinks that, from his tone, the earlier conversation isn’t over, but rather postponed.

“In a lake?” Kaede gasps, looking out at the frozen water. It’s awfully pretty. “Your family is so wealthy! Couldn’t you have hired a private swim tutor?”   
  


“Can you imagine how boring that would be?” Rantaro chuckles. “I don’t like chlorine all that much, it stains my hair.” Kaede can only guess. Chlorine stains  _ her  _ hair too, turns it an ugly shade of green. It probably makes Rantaro’s look more like an aqua. “I spent a lot of time here growing up with my younger sisters.”   
  


The mention of Rantaro’s sisters takes Kaede off guard. He’s said something about having a single (read: one) sister a couple of times, but never multiple, and the way that he’s looking at the lake, she can tell that it’s a loaded statement. She’s not sure that she wants him to elaborate, but she speaks anyway. “I’ve never met your sisters,” she says quietly, and that seems to be the right thing to say, because Rantaro turns and looks at her. He isn’t crying, but his expression is serious, all of a sudden, and it makes her shiver for a reason entirely unrelated to the cold.

“That’s because they’re-” he stops abruptly, looking a bit uncomfortable. “Sorry, I,” he clears his throat. “Told myself on the plane trip over that I would tell you today, but I’ve never actually,” the laugh that bubbles out of his mouth sounds borderline hysterical, and Kaede frowns. “They’re the, the reason I travel around so much.” He’s never sounded so inarticulate before, it’s a little bit unnerving, and Kaede’s silence feels like a heavy block in her chest so she speaks.

“Are they missing?” She asks, more quietly than she means to, and the way that Rantaro’s eyes flash with surprise tells her she’s exactly right. “I’m, uh, sorry for jumping to conclusions and stuff, but I figured that you were looking for something, ehehe.” Kaede looks away for a moment, at the lake, and watches as snowflakes land on the ice and slowly fade away. “And you always seem really sad and tired when you get back.”

“You notice that?” Rantaro sounds sheepish, not upset, and Kaede finds herself a bit annoyed.

“Of course I notice! I’m your girlfriend!” As soon as the words come out, though, she regrets them, because he seems a bit abashed hearing them. “Rantaro,” Kaede flounders for a moment. “Did you take me here to tell me this?”

Though Rantaro is quiet, Kaede knows what his answer is based on the way that he turns and looks at the lake, rubbing the back of his neck with a gloved hand. From his profile, he seems so much older; so much more tired. It’s scary to see, and Kaede doesn’t want to think about scary things right now, so as soon as her heart lurches she reaches out and grabs his free hand in both of hers, squeezing as tight as she thinks will be comfortable for him.

“You didn’t have to leave Berlin as soon as you arrived to tell me,” she says quietly. “I would have waited until you were more sure.”

“You say that,” Rantaro glances at her. “But are you sure?” He doesn’t sound hurt, necessarily, but his voice is thick, like he doesn’t want to be saying what he’s saying and is saying it anyway. “Because a lot of people say that they’re willing to wait but they don’t mean it.”

Kaede gives him a long look, and then releases his hand. She grips his shoulder and turns him so that he’s facing her entirely, reaching up to hook her arms around his shoulders, and then tilts her lips up into his. Rantaro doesn’t kiss back, really, but one of his hands rests on her lower back, and she decides that that’s fine as she pulls away. “Yes.” She says firmly. “I am sure. As far as I’m concerned, Rantaro, I would wait for you forever. But,” she adds, before he can object. “I’m glad you told me now.” She bumps his nose with her own, smiling at him so that he can see that she’s happy, not sad, that he shared this with her. “I trust you, you know that.”

“I’ve given you great reason to,” Rantaro mutters dryly, and Kaede huffs, feeling her face start to heat up again.

“Come on! That’s not a good mindset, and I mean it!” She pouts at him, and grabs both sides of his face, squishing their foreheads together. “I wouldn’t be dating you if I didn’t trust you, silly!” Kaede insists. “I’m here, aren’t I? You’re here. We’re both here, the two of us, and you just told me something really important and personal that you probably haven’t told a lot of other people-”

“Any other people,” Rantaro muses.

“-so I would be insane  _ not  _ to trust you!” She stops herself before she impulsively says the L-word, because it’s a bit too early for that, but keeps talking without taking a deep breath. “I like you a lot! You just flew out to Berlin and then came back within a few hours of arriving there to see me. And I think it’s really sweet that you’re going all over the world to look for your missing sisters even though you’re still in high school and that isn’t your responsibility! You didn’t need to hear that but I said it anyway! I also think this is really cute and I would like to ice skate with you on here if I wasn’t worried about the ice breaking and us catching hypothermia! Also you haven’t told me why you’re sticking around on Christmas yet, and I know it probably just hasn’t come up, but I’m sort of just saying what’s coming to mind right now and I-”

Before Kaede can finish her thought, Rantaro presses his lips against hers. It’s an awkward, disjointed kiss- maybe even worse than their first one, which was inexperienced and sloppy as all hell- but it’s so sweet that she doesn’t even notice. He pulls away quickly, to allow her to catch her breath, but when they make eye contact again, he’s smiling, and there’s a glimmer in his eyes.

Slowly, Kaede lowers her hands down to his shoulders.

“Thank you,” Rantaro says softly. “You have a knack of telling me exactly what I want to hear, y’know.”   
  
“That’s not always helpful,” Kaede responds moodily. “Sometimes I should be telling you what you  _ need  _ to hear.”

The laugh she gets in response is unwarranted but greatly appreciated. “Can I tell you about them? My sisters, I mean.” He pauses. “The Christmas thing isn’t a big deal, I just wanted to get you outside. The only reason I’ll be here for Christmas is that I wanted to spend it at home for once, rather than in a foreign city where they’ll serve me beer without even thinking about it.”   
  


“Beer!” Kaede gasps. “Rantaro! Do you drink alcohol in foreign countries?”

“Hm, do I?”

“That’s illegal!”   
  


“Not in Berlin, it’s not.” He’s teasing her, she thinks, but she still feels obligated to snatch his hat from his head in retaliation. His tongue pokes out at her but he doesn’t bother making any attempts to get it back, and so Kaede pulls it down on her own head. She’s not a fan of hats, as previously stated, but she’s not against wearing Rantaro’s.

After they settle down a bit, Kaede says, “I want to know about your sisters. Please tell me about them.” She reaches out and takes his hand, allowing a softer smile to appear on her face. “Everything.”

“Everything? That’s a bit of a tall order. It might take a while.” Rantaro points out, and Kaede examines his expression. She can’t read the look in his eyes, but she can still feel the warmth in his face, and it’s making her heart melt a little bit despite the cold.

“Lucky for you,” Kaede beams. “We have more than a while to talk.”

**Author's Note:**

> i can't gather a thought to save my life tbh
> 
> this was impulse written while i was supposed to be working on other shit but y'know it be like that
> 
> god i love this pairing. amamatsu is literally SO good and the winter vibes,,, fuckingsjfhd aesthetic as hell
> 
> this is not the first nor will it be the last time i talk about how attractive rantaro is in a fic unfortunately kaede the one i'm projecting on today
> 
> (i've been projecting on kaede a lot recently)
> 
> ahfdjksf y'all out here waiting for me to update search as i spam you with heterosexuals: >:(
> 
> me, totally unapologetic: :D
> 
> hope you enjoyed


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